Dispenser



Sept. 9, 1941 M. E. MUTCHLER' DISPENSER Filed Nov. 10. 1938 Patented Sept. 9, 1941 DISPENSER Kenmore, N.- 35.; Hildav M Mutchler, administratrix of said Maurice E.

Maurice E.- Mutchler,

Mutchler, deceased Application November 10, 19-38,, Serial No. 239,851

10. Claims.

This invention relates toimprovements in dispensers for candy discs and the like and, although not necessarily limited to such use, is characterized by features which adapt it particularly for use in connection with candy discs of the kind which are Wrapped and sold in rolls.

One object of the invention is to provide a dispenser which is so designed that the candy discs may be retained in their original package until removed for use, whereby to maintain their freshness,.prevent them from melting or otherwise deteriorating, and avoid direct contact between them and the Walls of the dispenser.

A further object is to provide. a dispenser which is simple and inexpensive in design and which may be manipulated with facility.

The invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawing in which:

Figure- 1 is a side elevation of a dispenser embodying the features of the invention.

l' igures 2 and 3 are horizontal sections taken along lines 2-2 and 33, respectively, of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken along line 4-4 of Figure 2-.

Figure 5 is a detail View of the knives shown in Figure 1 and is taken along line 5-5 of the said figure.

Figure 6 is a view in elevation of another embodiment of the invention.

Figure "I is a vertical section and is taken along line 'l-1: of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a top View of the dispenser.

Figure 9 is a vertical section through another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 10' is a horizontal section taken along line Ii -4!! of Figure Figure 1']; is a detail view of the kni-ie shown in Figure: 9 and is taken along line i i-N of the said figure.

The dispenser may purse, or. it may be designed formounti ng upon a wall or other support in a position in: which it is conveniently accessible. As illustrated Figure 1, it'- comprises a tubular body is open at its-lower end, which is normal y closed at its upper end by a cap 28' and which i'sadapted to be fitted over one end ofa.- rol l 2 l? of candy discs, or the: like, without removal of the wrap per, so that the upper end of the roll abuts an inwardly extending stop 22. The said stop is resilient and normally assumes a position in which it extends. angularly upwardly. It is yieldabl'e', however, to permit closing of the cap. In order tosecure be carried; in a pocket or 9 which the roll H in the body 2 3- in the manner described, the latter is formed with an internal bead 2-3' which provides a groove for accommodating; a rubber band 24 Portions of the said: band extend through slots 25, as best shown" in Figure 3, to engage the sides of the roll. A vacuum cup- 26 which is carried by the body i9 is available for mounting the latter upon a suitable support,

In. accordance with the invention, means is provided whereby the candy discs may be removed one at a time as desired. The said means includes a pair of semi-circular knives Zl. The said knives are mounted upon a pin 28; and they have blades which. are operable in: a slot as which is formed in the body [9 adjacent the top. The outer ends of a spring 38-, which is carried by the: pin 28,, are connected to the knives and hold them in. positions. in which their cutting edges are spaced at. short distance from the roll 21, as best shown: in Figure 2:-. The: outer ends of the knives overlap. Preferably they are cutaway, as indicated at 2100' (Figure 5),. to insure operation of the cutting? edges in the same plane. The parts are so. designed that when a roll ofv candy is arranged in the body I9? in the manner described; the: cutting edges of the knives 27' are located in the: plane of the contacting sides of the disc: abutting the. stop 22 and the disc direct- 1y under it..

When: it is. desired to effect withdrawal or" a candy disc, the knives 27 are grasped between 1e thumb and finger, for example, and moved toward one another against the action of the spring so. The; knives are thus moved between the upper and lower discs, cutting portions of the wrapper as they do this. In this connection, it will be noted that the. knives are wedge-shaped in crosssection, asbest shown in Figure 4. Hence as they move toward one another in the mann-er described, the upper candy disc is forced par tially out of the body l9. It may therefore, be grasped and removed, it being noted that the top wall of the body It is cut away on opposite sides, as: indicated at 3!, to expose substantial porti'ons of the disc, If desired, the disc may be further" exposed by urging the roll upwardly after operation of theknives. When this is done the disc rocks upon its rear edge and the forward edge is moved upwardly.

Uponremoval of a candy disc in the manner described the roll may be pushed up into the body lSl against the resistance of the rubber band E' i until the succeeding disc comes into engagemerit the stop 22. That portion of the wrapper which has been severed by the knives may then be torn from the roll and the operations described repeated as often as may be desired.

If desired the tubular body l9 may be long enough to completely incase the roll. Such a body is shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8. In this embodiment a modified form of wrapper cutting or severing means is illustrated. The said means is in the form of a slide 32. The latter carries a knob 32a by which it may be moved around a band 33 provided by a circumferential slot 34 formed in the body I!) adjacent its upper end. The slide 32 carries a knife 35 which extends through the slot 34 and which normally occupies a position in which it is located in either of two chambers 36 provided by suitably deforming the walls of the body l9. When the knife 35 occupies either of the said chambers a clearance is provided between its cutting edge and the roll, thereby enabling necessary adjustments of the latter.

When it is desired to remove a disc, assuming that the cover of the dispenser is open and the roll is positioned against the stop 22, the slide 32 is manipulated to move the knife 35 from the particular chamber 36 in which it is located to the companion chamber. As this is done the knife enters between the two upper discs and cuts the wrapper around the greater portion of the roll. The topmost disc, therefore, may be removed by grasping it through the cutaway portions 3l.- The roll may, as heretofore described, be urged upwardly to cause the foremost edge of the disc to move upwardly as it rocks upon its rearmost edge and thereby increase the exposed area.

The dispenser shown in Figure 9 is designed particularly for use in connection with candy discs of the kind having central openings. In this embodiment the body I9 is provided with a bottom closure member 31 which is of a general conical shape and which is formed to provide a re-entrant part 38. A hollow stem 39 fits over the said part and is of a size which will enable it to be inserted through the openings in the discs. A follower 40 is slidably mounted on the stem 39 and provides a seat for the roll of candy. A spring 4| which is arranged around the stem and which is held under compression between the follower and the end of the closure member acts against the roll to urge its upper end against the stop 22. In this embodiment the knife for severing the wrapper between the two upper discs is indicated at 42. It is Wedgeshaped in cross section and is carried by a spring strip 43 which is suitably secured at its lower end to the body I9. Adjacent its upper end the said body is formed with a slot 44 to permit the knife 42 to enter it, the spring strip 43 normally holding the knife in a position in which its cutting edge is spaced a short distance from the side of the roll. The topmost disc in the roll may be removed by forcing the knife 42 into the slot 44 against the action of the spring strip 43. As the knife enters the body l9 its cutting edge moves between the two upper discs and partially severs the wrapper. During this operation the upper beveled face of the knife causes the topmost disc to rock upon its rearmost edge, as illustrated, to expose it in such a manner that it may be readily grasped and withdrawn from the dispenser. It will be apparent that when a disc has been removed as described the spring 4!, through the agency of the follower 40, will be operative to move the roll upwardly until its upper end again engages the stop 22. The partially severed wrapper may be torn from the roll and the knife 42 again operated to eifect the withdrawal of the succeeding disc. Otherwise the cap 20 may be closed. Preferably cleanout openings 45 are formed in the closure member 31.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that all of the embodiments described are adapted for use in connection with packaged candy discs and do not involve the removal of the wrapper until a disc is withdrawn, and only then so much of the wrapper as surrounds the particular disc. The dispenser has the advantage, therefore, that the candy is maintained in a fresh condition and melting and deterioration are prevented. A further advantage obtained is that direct contact between the candy and the walls of the dispenser is prevented. The discs, therefore, are not only prevented from sticking to one another but are also prevented from sticking to the dis penser. In this connection it will be noted that if, by chance, the discs should stick to one another they will be separated by the knives as the latter are moved between them.

I claim as my invention:

1. A dispenser for candy discs or the like including a body in which said discs are arranged in a roll in a wrapper, said body being formed with an outlet and a circumferential slot which is located in the vicinity of the outlet, a pair of knives which operate in substantially the same plane and which are movable through said slot to out said wrapper to enable one of said discs to be withdrawn through said outlet and resilient means for restoring said knives to their original positions after they have been actuated for the purpose described.

2. A dispenser for candy discs or the like including a body in which said discs are arranged in a roll in a wrapper, said body being formed with an outlet and a circumferential slot, contractile means which engages said roll through said slot to hold it in said body and a knife carried by said body which is operable to out said wrapper to enable one of said discs to be withdrawn through said outlet.

3. A dispenser for candy discs or the like including a body in which said discs are arranged in a roll in a wrapper, said body being formed with an outlet and a slot which is located in the vicinity of the outlet, a stop, resilient means for biasing said roll so that one end is held against said stop, a knife which is movable through said slot to out said wrapper between a pair of said discs to enable one of them to be withdrawn through said outlet and means for re storing said knife to its original position, said resilient means thereafter being operative to advance said roll to again position said end against said stop.

4. A dispenser for candy discs or the like including a body in which said discs are arranged in a roll in a wrapper, said body being formed with an outlet and a circumferential slot which is located in the vicinity of the outlet, a slide which is movable around said body and a knife carried by said slide which extends through said slot and which is adapted to out said wrapper as it enters between a pair of said discs, whereby to enable one of them to be withdrawn through said outlet, said slide being movable to a position in which said knife is spaced from said roll.

5. A dispenser for candy discs or the like of the kind having central openings including a body in roll along said spindle to again move which said discs are arranged in a roll in a wrapper, said body being formed with an outlet and a slot which is located in the vicinity of the outlet, a spindle which extends through the openings in said discs, a stop, resilient means for holding one end of said roll against said stop and means which is movable through said slot to out said wrapper to enable one of said discs to be withdrawn through said outlet, said resilient means thereafter being operative to advance said said end against said stop.

6. A dispenser for candy discs or the like including a tubular container in which the discs are adapted to be arranged in a roll in their wrapper, said container having an open end which provides an outlet, being provided with an inward projection at said outlet against which one end of the roll abuts and being formed with a transverse slot below said outlet, said projection and slot being located at opposite sides of the container and a knife mounted on said container which is movable to one position in which its cutting edge is positioned alongside and in spaced relation with respect to said roll and which is movable between the leading and adjacent discs to cut the wrapper and partially expel the leading disc.

7. A dispenser for candy discs or the like including a tubular container in which the discs are adapted to be arranged in a roll in their wrapper, said container having an open end which provides an outlet, being provided with an inward projection at said outlet against which one end of the roll abuts and being formed with a transverse slot below said outlet, said projection and slot being located at opposite sides of the container and a knife mounted on said container, said knife ha ing a cutting edge normally positioned in said slot alongside and in spaced relation with respect to said roll and being movable between the leading and adjacent discs to cut the wrapper and partially expel the leading disc.

8. A dispenser for candy discs or the like including a tubular container in which the discs are adapted to be arranged in a roll in their wrapper, said container having an open end which provides an outlet, being provided with an inward projection at said outlet against which one end of the roll abuts and being formed with a transverse slot below said outlet, said projection and slot being located at opposite sides of the container, a knife mounted on said container, said knife having a blade normally positioned in said slot alongside and in spaced relation with respect to said roll and being movable between the leading and adjacent discs to cut the wrapper and partially expel the leading disc and resilient means for restoring said knife to its original position after it has been actuated for the purpose described.

9. A dispenser for candy discs or the like including a tubular container in which the discs are adapted to be arranged in a roll in their wrapper, said container having an open end which provides an outlet, being provided with a stop at said outlet against which one end of the roll abuts and being formed with a transverse slot below said outlet and a pair of opposing knives which straddle the container and which have their cutting edges located in said slot adjacent to and spaced from the roll and being movable between the leading and adjacent discs to cut the wrapper and partially expel the leading disc.

10. A dispenser for candy discs or the like including a tubular container in which the discs are adapted to be arranged in a roll in their wrapper, said container having an open end which provides an outlet, being provided with an inward projection at said outlet against which one end of the roll abuts and being formed with a transversely extending slot below said outlet, said projection and slot being located at opposite sides of the container, a pair of opposing curved knives which encircle the container, said knives having their cutting edges which conform to the shape of the roll normally located in said slot adjacent to and spaced from the roll and being movable between the leading and adjacent discs to cut the wrapper and partially expel the leading disc and resilient means for restoring said knives to their original positions after they have been actuated for the purpose described.

MAURICE E. MUTCHLER. 

